The City of Knox covers parts of the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including Rowville, Ferntree Gully, Boronia, Wantirna and Bayswater.
The council had a population of 159,103 as of the 2021 census.
- Wards
- Incumbent councillors
- History
- Council control
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- Voting trends by ward
Wards
The City of Knox is divided into nine single-member wards as of 2024:
- Baird – in the north, covering parts of Bayswater, Boronia and Ferntree Gully.
- Chandler – in the north-east, covering The Basin nad parts of Boronia.
- Collier – in the north-west, covering Wantirna and parts of Wantirna South.
- Dinsdale – in the north, covering parts of Bayswater.
- Dobson – in the east, covering Upper Ferntree Gully and parts of Ferntree Gully.
- Friberg – in the centre, covering parts of Ferntree Gully and Knoxfield.
- Scott – in the west, covering parts of Knoxfield and Wantirna South.
- Taylor – in the south-east, covering parts of Lysterfield and Rowville.
- Tirhatuan – in the south-west, covering Scoresby and parts of Rowville.
| Baird | Yvonne Allred (Independent) | Friberg | Susan Laukens (Ind) |
| Chandler | Jude Dwight (Independent) | Scott | Lisa Cooper (Independent) |
| Collier | Marcia Timmers-Leitch (Ind) | Taylor | Susan Pearce (Ind Liberal) |
| Dinsdale | Sorina Grasso (Ind Labor) | Tirhatuan | Nicole Seymour (Ind) |
| Dobson | Meagan Baker (Independent) |
History
The Shire of Knox was created in 1963, and became a City in 1969. It was one of the few councils in Melbourne to be untouched by the 1994 council reorganisation process.
Knox has been elected through nine single-member wards all the way back to 1994.
In the current council term, the mayoralty has been held by councillors Cooper, Laukens, Timmers-Leitch and Dwight.
Council control
Knox mayoral elections have been quite fluid in the current term. The roles were uncontested in 2020.
Some councillors tend to stick together – Baker and Seymour mostly vote together, as do Grasso and Timmers-Leitch. Councillor Laukens has always been in the majority, while Councillor Dwight has been in the majority on all but one occasion.
Over the last three years, there have been different majority groups each year.
In 2021, a majority of Allred, Baker, Dwight, Laukens and Seymour voted for the winner on both ballots.
In 2022, different groups voted for the winner on the two ballots. Only Laukens and Cooper voted for the winner on both ballots, while every other voter switched sides. Baker, Seymour, Grasso and Timmers-Leitch joined the above two to support Timmers-Leitch for mayor, while Allred, Dwight and Pearce were part of the majority supporting Dwight for deputy mayor.
In 2023, all except Baker and Seymour voted for Dwight for mayor. On the deputy ballot, Allred, Cooper and Baker were the only ones not to vote for Grasso.
Candidate summary
Councillors Jude Dwight, Nicole Seymour and Marcia Timmers-Leitch are not running for re-election.
The Animal Justice Party is running one candidate.
Assessment
A number of Liberal Party members were elected in 2020, but they don’t consistently vote as a bloc. The council is reasonably fluid. It is worth watching to see if the teal and independent groups who have been so strong in this area at state and federal elections since 2020 make an impact in the council election.
Voting trends by ward
In order to understand the relative political position of each ward, I have estimated the results of the 2022 federal election in each ward.
On a two-party-preferred basis, the Liberal Party won all but two wards. The ALP narrowly won the two wards in the north-eastern corner of the council area. The Liberal vote gets higher as you head south, peaking at 56% in the south-west.
Candidates – Baird Ward
- Cr Yvonne Allred
- Samantha Gilchrist (Animal Justice)
- Peter Lockwood
- Gary Saultry
- Andrew Church
Candidates – Chandler Ward
- Paige Kennett
- Ryan Bruce
- Matt Harris
- Jeff Kidney
Candidates – Collier Ward
- Jesse Elderhorst
- Aidan Griffiths
- Emily Sun
- Chris Duncan
Candidates – Dinsdale Ward
- Gary Leech
- Sitha Devarapalli
- Cr Sorina Grasso
- Robert Williams
Candidates – Dobson Ward
- Cr Meagan Baker
- Tony Holland
- Emily Cox
- Joe Stroud
Candidates – Friberg Ward
- Parisa Considine
- Cr Susan Laukens
Candidates – Scott Ward
- Lily Wu
- Cr Lisa Cooper
Candidates – Taylor Ward
- Cr Susan Pearce
- Robert Mason
Candidates – Tirhatuan Ward
- Glen Atwell
- Segar Nadarajah
- Andrew Williams
I wonder how different the ward results would look for Knox based on the 2023 Aston by-election, since the old Aston (pre redistribution) had the exact boundaries of the City of Knox.
@ Adam
I think the northern wards would be strong Labor. Taylor would still be Strong Liberal. The Central wards would be even. Dobson ward is interesting as it includes both the strongest Labor booth UFTG and strongest Liberal booth Lysterfield in the same ward.